


Deadlocked Child

by arnope



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pre-Canon, Blackwatch Era, Blackwatch Reaper | Gabriel Reyes, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Pre-Canon, Team as Family, baby au where everything is the same but instead of finding a 17 yr old jesse he's like 4 lmao, background reaper76 but they aren't the focus at all
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-27
Updated: 2016-11-27
Packaged: 2018-09-02 14:20:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8670868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arnope/pseuds/arnope
Summary: "Good good. You and I, little man, we make a great team," Gabriel said as he held out his hand and the child, with some speculation, reached out to give the lightest of high-fives.





	

`[ENCRYPTED] `  
`BLCWTCH CODE #344532`  
`Route 66; Deadlock Gorge; New Mexico`  
`Captain Gabriel Reyes AGNT 13`  
`AGNTS 65 78 20 25 80 STANDBY AGNTS 105 30 45`  
`OBJ; Find and Eliminate Deadlock Gang.`  
`TIME 0616`

Gabriel Reyes sighed and signed out of the database after receiving the mission log. Once done, the map of the gorge was sent via message straight to his communicator. A quick download was made and sent over to the rest of the team that sat silently within the air carrier, allowing only the soft hum of the engines that propelled them through the sky to fill their thoughts. Yet seconds merely passed before everyone was now looking down at the map, sighting each and every route that was planned out ahead of time in order to memorize the coordinates so that a clean success could be brought about. Gabriel had no need to look, instead he merely slipped his eyes closed with arms folding across his chest. With only three hours of sleep, he needed this small moment.

Talk was heard then. Quiet murmurings of what the mission would entail before the subject of what to do after the mission caught on. Soon everyone was thinking about it. Sleeping was a big hit with more than half. Drinking and eating something delicious was number two. Everything else? Mostly just relaxing. Blackwatch agents never really have time to themselves these days. There was always an operation needing to be done with only the down time being from country to country inside of an air carrier. Decently sized with all the fixings needed, but after a while it starts to seem cramped and as uninteresting as the last. The only thing one could do now was sit, buckled up in the chairs, and try to sleep off the remnants of a tiring night.

"Standby for landing."

Conversation faded fast when the announcement over the comm. system was made. A silent hush fell over the belly of the carrier. Agents were hefting up rifles, securing their gear and putting on helmets, all while the air pressure started to weigh down upon them with the carrier's slow descent. Gabriel did the same. With a stretch to his back, as much as the restraints would allow him, he soon got to work in being the first one out of the carrier.

This mission would not be difficult. The Deadlock gang may have their own criminal empire, but they weren't anything to feel threatened over. At least to Gabriel who found that fear from the battlefield always came in different levels. During the Omnic Crisis, he thought that there was nothing worse than the horrors he had seen then. So far, he has not been proven wrong. Perhaps that's where he got his reputation should anyone remember him: stone-faced in the eyes of the enemy, fear couldn't touch him no matter what they tried to do. The plan was his only comfort.

Unlatching the restraints, he tugged on his beanie before slipping the communicator back into his ear. Taking a glance over at the two pilots, he soon made his way towards the air locked doors with one hand holding onto the sides for stability. Once he looked out of the window, a pang of homesickness came at him like a punch to the gut. Of course being from Los Angeles views like this were never seen, but this place was so loudly American, that he couldn't help but to think about his own family back in the overcrowded city.

The sun was just barely peeking out over the horizon, coloring the sky an array of fiery hues that made the backdrop of red sand mountains absolutely brilliant. A small gas station was the first landmark to be seen due to its rather big signs of GAS and BIG EARL'S signaling to any weary traveler. Just over the ridge was a diner aptly named The Panorama Diner which still held life within it as if it never even closed to begin with. From intel, that was the main hide out. They may hold this town in their ever tightening grip, but they were pushed into the corner the more Overwatch started to breath down their necks. The citizens were starting to take back their own lives with businesses that have been in family names from before the Omnic Crisis even took place. Just seemed now was the right time as ever for Blackwatch to move in.

"Let's see if we can wrap this up before noon," Gabriel soon spoke over the communicators to the rest of his team once the ground below them was starting to get closer. He had no need to raise his voice despite the hum of the engine. They all knew what he was saying. "Take out Deadlock, go have lunch. Sound like a good plan to you all?"

With a resounding cheer from his team, Gabriel smiled. Never did they disappoint him. Never would they. Blackwatch was filled with rejects and hard loved soldiers who just wanted to do something right for the world they lived in. Overwatch wouldn't take them, but Gabriel would. Some of them would often say that no one would remember them, nor would anyone even know what good they did, but their commander would make them feel like there was something worth fighting for. That they were worth saving in the end of all of this.

Yet all in one moment, the plan started to be rearranged. A resounding blast was first heard, then seen as the air carrier rounded a cliff. Gabriel rushed to the window, holding tight to the sides as the blast rocked the carrier and made standing all that much harder in the turbulence. The train tracks that once was built over the town, carrying passengers through the gorge by the tops of the mountains, were now falling. The sight that made Gabriel's mouth open was the train on those tracks. Sliced down the middle and tumbling to the ground, flames rising ever so much higher as they started to engulf everything it touches on its destructive path.

"Land towards the east!" Gabriel was soon shouting, making his way over to where the pilot cockpit lay. "Get away from that blast. It looks like they were expecting us. Take up the standby agents and get them ready as well. Time to go silent."

"Yes sir!" They both acknowledged, already getting to work as the commands were made. Immediately the hum of the engines grew quieter. A quiet whirr gave the signal that the machinations were being put into place to camouflage the carrier so it would not be seen. Gabriel was soon back to his team, all still sitting and looking up at him expectantly to know what their next move was or if the original plan was still a go.

From the looks of it, their plan was definitely in need of changing. Pulling up the map again, he soon crossed out the first two routes. One was direct, just through the main highway. Seeing as how that was mostly blocked by derailed train cars, that needed to be forgotten. The second was through the canyon itself. If they were expecting them that well, the canyon will most likely be rigged to explode. Gabriel did not want to take any chances.

"The path towards the east, just off the cliff face," Gabriel started to explain, highlighting the third route marked with a purple line while he did so. A hush fell over and everyone started to listen with eyes glued to the map in front of them. "We will go through the narrow line there. They will have no one watching that because their main points will be underground, topside, or from the road. Deadlock Gang knows that Overwatch is after them. They may have studied how Overwatch works, but we are _not_ Overwatch. If they want to  make this more difficult than it has to be, then we set up flanks and surprise them. This is still all routine. Nothing new, nothing special. Give them hell and we will still be eating lunch by noon. Got it?"

"Yes sir!"

"Good. Set up silencers and get to the back."

At once every agent was moving. Silencers were put on their pulse rifles before restraints were being tossed aside, seats were soon forgotten. In a coordinated line, they formed up at the back, hands raised to hold onto the straps that hung down from the ceiling to keep from falling, each and every one of them chilled their looks. They know what they will be getting into. They know that should they die, no one will know about it. They need to come to terms with this every single new operation and it was never easy. Gabriel allowed them that peace.

"Ten seconds until landing."

The countdown signaled in his head. Each number ticked by as his eyes remained on the door in front of him. Fingers tightening and loosening with each new number given until the number one flashed in his mind. Right then and there, the operation started. Doors opened and he lead the group with quiet steps. He only looked back once and that was to give the signal to the pilots to take off again. They would not be needed anymore. Now, the comm. was dead. Forced silence to make sure no one would spot them should their plan, in a moment's notice, be utterly compromised.

Even at six in the morning, the air in the desert was stifling during the summer. Black combat gear was always ideal, unless they were in hot areas that made Gabriel think more of Southern Californian seasons that never seemed to get cold no matter how deep into the winter they got. Yet his team never broke. Still silent, they walked along the designated path with no other person in sight. It may have seem daunting, but this was how Gabriel wanted it to be. From the way the explosion hit and how the train car held no passengers, the gang was waiting on the other side of it. No doubt holed up in that decrepit little diner of theirs as if that would give them a leg up. Perhaps if it was anyone else in charge they might have, but Gabriel has seen far too many stake outs and battles to even call this a surprising maneuver. He only wanted to congratulate them for even knowing they were coming in the first place, but he doubted his congratulations would be the same in their minds.

Stopping beside one of the train cars that had been turned on its side, he signaled for the team to line up along the back of it before taking a look around the corner. The diner was definitely their hide out. With a quick headcount of all he could see in the windows, only twenty members of the gang were put up there. Guns, whips, chains, what have you, were all brandished almost as if they were expecting their visitors to just burst in through the front door. Thankfully though, no civilians were on sight. At least the gang had some decency, if that was to even be granted.

Twenty was still easy picking. Holding up his hand, he signaled to the team how many before giving the go ahead to continue moving. There were four known entrances to the diner and Gabriel would take number four: through the back. The first three up front would just be landing his men into a fire fight that could be won, but with far more causalities on his side than he wanted to begin with. Thus, they took the service entrance: easy as that.

If Gabriel said it would be quick work, he would make sure that it was. Right when they got through the back with a hard tug on the antique lock, they rushed the place. It was always said that a large army with no head will never succeed against a small army with a head on it. The Deadlock gang may have outnumbered them, but Blackwatch held the skill needed to make sure their smaller numbers was not a weakness. Each agent got about two men to them, taken down easily with either a pristine shot or a swift knockout with the butt of their weapon.

Gabriel held about five men. With two shotguns, he made sure not to waste any bullets on them because reloading was never the smartest move in a fire fight. Tipping over tables, using the back of the bar, even hiding behind booths for cover, he made sure each person he came across that was labeled as a red would be cut down with a bullet between their eyes. Messy, but quick. In Blackwatch, everything had to be quick. In and out, clean the place up, act like they were never there in the first place. All routine: a phrase that is always repeated in Gabriel's mind.

The last man left alive was noted as the leader, but he didn't look like it to him. Gabriel kicked the man's legs out from underneath him and made him stare up at the barrel of his shot gun before he even tried to attack one of his men from behind. With a good look at his face, the signs of who he was became unknown to Gabriel. For weeks he has been seeing the leader of the Deadlock gang show up in files, status reports, even noted in his own plans to search and kill that man. This one, quivering and scared on the ground, pleading for his life to be saved because he had a dog to get back to, was definitely not the one.

"Where are the others?" Gabriel soon asked, moving his gun out of the way to get a better look at him. Scraggily beard, missing teeth, age in his late fifties. No doubt he had seen the formation of this gang, but he was not a leader. A high-end grunt from the looks of the gold jewelry decorating his form and the look he gave in his attempt at play-acting. He wanted to be set free, but that was never how things worked around here. Gabriel may have moved away when he was granted no answer to his question, but two of his agents rounded his sides and hoisted the man up easily, deaf to his watered down pleas. Forcing his hands behind his back, they at least had one person to question on the whereabouts of the rest of the gang. It was something, but not enough.

Tapping the side of his gun, he looked around the place with a deep set frown. This wasn't the whole gang. It was the grunts, the people who did not matter. They thought they were being sent here to fight and to win, not be bait while the rest of the gang did whatever the hell they were doing right now. Paranoia began to set in because of that and it itched at Gabriel unrelentingly.

"Clean up the rest here. Maxson, come with me," Gabriel ordered, watching only one of the agents move differently than the rest. A man in his late twenties from the inner city of New York. Bright, passionate, a good soldier. Gabriel could trust him with just about anything that he put the man towards, that was how dedicated he was towards Blackwatch alone. "We are going to check the back rooms. Gun at the ready." Maxson nodded his head before quietly following Gabriel towards the back through the kitchen doors.

Empty, save for the omnic chiefs who merely looked up from their cooking as if there wasn't a thing in the world bothering them. Gabriel merely gave them a passing glance as he continued on, body tense and waiting for anything to pop out at him. Preferably the rest of the gang, but it seemed that ship has sailed long before they even arrived here. Even as they moved to the service rooms there was nothing there. With a sigh, Gabriel closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose in silent frustration. What kind of report would this be: got rid of some of the gang, but the rest was a total failure? Ah, Jack is just going to love that one. 

"Go back and help with the others," Gabriel soon ordered Maxson who merely relaxed his posture somewhat. There would be no more need of his gun. "We'll get this placed cleaned up before seeing what else we can do."

"Yes sir," the younger man accepted before leaving Gabriel to the silent room. There were a great many options he could do, most of which was to search the entire town for anyone from the gang until they got to the top, but that wasn't sanctioned. Nor was it guaranteed that the gang was still in Route 66, or even Santa Fe in the first place. 

"Well Jack, you got your fuckin' wish--" A door slamming shut and a muffled yelp made Gabriel freeze with his hand in the air. Eyebrows furrowed as brown eyes slowly looked around the room for any indication of where the sound had came from, but nothing came up until a little shift was heard from the other side of a cabinet situated on the floor. The room itself was just a rest room for the employees with just a horribly intact green couch, dirty counters, increasingly dirty sink, with a dingy little refrigerator. Yet just below were the cabinets and, apparently, someone else.

Slowly, rather carefully, he made his way to the counters. Putting his shotguns on top, he soon bent to a crouch where he opened up one of the cabinets. Nothing was there aside from a couple mugs and coffee containers, but a little thud was noted towards his right. Thus, moving down one, he opened. Once he was met with nothing, he continued on until he got to the last one in the line that only had the wall to its side. The man was trapped and there was nothing he could do about it, Gabriel was about to out the coward which would hopefully make up for the rest of the mess he would soon have to deal with.

"Alright you can--" Gabriel opened the door, expecting a man, but once his eyes fell upon a scrawny child with messy brown hair, dirt covering his plump cheeks, and holes making Swiss cheese out of his clothes, he froze in complete shock. Though the kid with the wide eyes did not do the same. The moment he laid eyes on Gabriel, he quickly crawled away to the other side of the cabinets. Panicked breaths, he knocked over objects and even made some of them to fall out to the ground, but the fear of possibly being caught kept the kid going.

Yet Gabriel's first reaction was to question why a kid was here in the first place. Not just a kid, but a toddler from the looks of it. No younger than two, but definitely not older than four. Dirty, scared, and definitely does not belong in this diner.

"Hey hey, hold up little man." Gabriel's mind kicked into overdrive as he moved quickly to the other side of the cabinet. "It's alright, I'm not gonna hurt you." Yet opening the door in which the child was in brought him no luck. He just scampered away to the other side once again with no hint of wanting to even hear Gabriel out. And why would he? He's a child who seems to only know the gang in which he was brought up in and that wasn't even the worst case scenario either. Either way, trust is hard won.

"Alright, you got me," he said, backing off from the cabinets. Taking a couple steps back, he soon sat on the ground in front of the cabinets instead. A little ways away though, not wanting to crowd the child in any way. Leaving him here was never an option his mind thought up. "You come out when you want to come out. Not gonna push, just want you to know that everything is fine-- no one is going to hurt you, I'll make sure of it."

He paused, watched the cabinet where the kid was holing himself up in, but nothing happened in response. Not even a shift in movement from behind the door.

"How about this: put your hands over your eyes. Cover them, make sure you see nothing. Take a deep breath, like this," he demonstrated with a loud inhale before exhaling. Hearing the little breaths from behind the door made him smile, but Gabriel didn't stop. "Think of a place that makes you happy. Maybe... a place filled with candy? Cotton candy trees, chocolate rivers, even got those sour gummy bears with gumdrop eyes. But that's not all, everything sweet is there like pies and cakes too, not just candy. You can eat anything and you would never get sick. Do you see it?" He gave a pause, thinking the kid was answering before continuing. "Whenever you're scared, go to that place. Close your eyes and eat to your heart's content until you feel safe again. It works every time, little man, trust me."

The cabinet door didn't open, but Gabriel was patient. In the meantime, his communicator started to go off with his second in command asking for a lift for the prisoner that they managed to take in. The clean up job seemed to be finishing up right about now, so they would have to leave and settle whatever they got out of this job. Hopefully, and dear God is he hoping, that the man they took in will actually give them valuable information.

Yet as Gabriel sat there, lost in his thoughts for just a moment, the door to the cabinet creaked open rather slowly. Brown eyes blinked before flashing onto the child who, with wide eyes, took in the man before him. Still shaking, but not as bad as before, he started to slowly stand up almost as if one wrong move and he would regret the decision of coming out in the first place. Gabriel just smiled wide at him, eyes crinkling proudly for the kid.

"Look at you, brave like a true soldier," Gabriel chuckled softly. Getting a fuller look at the kid though did not make him feel any better. Just skin and bone, knobby knees and dirt crusted onto him as if baths were never a thing for him. There was a twist in his gut, wondering what the hell he has even been through in his short life, but he did not allow his smile to fade. "Did that candy land work for you?" Those big eyes never left Gabriel's face, even when there was a rather slight nod of the kids head in answer. "I'm glad. It's a trick my mama used to use for me when I was just your age. Got nightmares all the time, but then I'd go to candyland and never look back."

"Sir, we're ready to move." His communicator crackled in his ear, making him look away from the kid and towards the door for just a second.

"Got it. Hey, there's a kid in here 'bout four years old I'd say. Got any intel on families around this area that might know of him?"

"Uh... " There was a pause, but it wasn't for long. "Can't say that we do. Would you like for someone to get that for you, sir?"

"Yeah. Is the carrier touched down?"

"Yes sir."

"Alright, continue the job and then we can deal with the family after."

"Yes sir."

Dropping his hand, he looked back at the child who never moved from his spot. Wide eyes still ever so watchful on Gabriel, but now there was the familiar fear rising up from within them once again.

"Do you have a family, little man?" Gabriel soon asked, but he got no answer in response. "Well, I'm gonna help you." With that, he stood which only made the child backpedal fast and press up against the cabinet. The fear was back. "Remember when I told you I'm not going to hurt you or let anyone else hurt you? That will always be a promise. Come, I want to show you my air carrier. Ever seen one of those?" Holding out his gloved hand, he smiled once more. "Can even fix you up something good to eat."

There was a second of indecision where Gabriel had a feeling the kid would just bolt out of there. Instead, without taking his hand, he gathered up the courage and walked closer to Gabriel. Eyes took in the hand before looking up at the older man almost like a silent notion of: yes, I will follow you. Gabriel did not push any other option. Picking up his guns from the counter, he made his way over to the door and opened it, waiting for the child to follow after. First with a cautious walk, looking around as if someone was going to jump up and grab him any second, but once out of the door he took up a more faster paced stride. Through the kitchen was easy, but knowing there would be dead bodies right outside, Gabriel was uncertain the child would last through that.

"I'm going to have to carry you for just until we get outside. And, what I want you to do is to go back to candy land. Can you do that for me? Just this one time?" Gabriel told him calmly as he knelt down beside him. Another silent moment was given, allowing the child to ponder before the same tiny nod came in his agreement to the plan.

Without a moment to waste, Gabriel scooped him up gently. Light as a piece of paper, hands holding a vice grip onto his hoodie, the child was rigid. With another assurance that everything would be alright and that no one would hurt him, the child pressed his dirty little palms to his eyes and pressed his lips into a thin line, concentrating on candy land. Gabriel smiled lightly before pushing out of the kitchen and into the main diner.

Part of his team was still there, waiting for their commander, but hearing about the kid still allowed for them to hold a shocked look to come across their features at the sight of him. With a little gesture for them to hurry along outside, his second in command came over to take his guns so that he had an easier time carrying the child. Thankfully enough it was a quick walk to the outside, and as per agreement, he let the child down. Right when he got onto his feet, the hands dropped and his eyes blinked against the midday sun.

"The air carrier is just over there, do you see it?" Gabriel pointed, directing the child's eyes to where the air carrier stood. His team were already getting into it, while some stood around waiting for their commander to give what information they were able to gather. "And those people you see? They won't harm you; I like to see them as my family." No response, just the child moving closer to him. Gabriel was starting to interpret that as 'I'm with you' without the kid really needing to say anything. He wasn't proven wrong when he started to walk and the child kept close behind him: half hiding, half peeking out to see where they were going.

Once he got closer, those standing around straightened out and saluted. "Sir, the prisoner hasn't said anything yet. As for the families, there's a couple in the town that may know about any kids."

"Alright, I'll send four men out to the town to ask. Take a picture--"

"Already got it, sir," one in the back wiggled her phone with a cheeky smile. "He was just standing there, so might as well, aye?"

"Miller, just ask. Does that mean you're volunteering to be one of the four?"

"Sure," she shrugged, stepping out of the carrier.

"So, Miller, Maxson, Clark, and Sanchez, go around the town and ask if the kid got any family. Don't take too long. Still have to head over to Grand Mesa and send in the reports." He waved his hand dismissively and, with a couple salutes, the four of them left the area to go up the road where the little town lay.

Feeling a little tug on his pant leg, Gabriel looked down to spot the child gripping onto the fabric rather tightly as those eyes of his took in everything else around him.

"Sir, when you said there was a kid, I ran to the little mini mart, it was just up the street." Gabriel looked over, spotted the youngest recruit and one of the standby agents shuffling over with a bag in her hand. Last name, Wright, first name, Danielle. A little spitfire, but nervous as all hell when thinking she did something wrong. "I knew we wouldn't be getting lunch until later, so I thought to get him some food just in case." The bag was handed over and, inside, was just a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with some baby carrots off to the side. Of course there was a candy bar, but that could be for afterwards. Or maybe even spoil the kid now.

"Thanks, I was thinking about that," he chuckled as he took out the candy bar. Unwrapping it first, he broke off a piece and knelt down to hand it over to the child. "You can get the rest if you come sit with me in the carrier. That's just for being brave."

A step forward, his pants were let go in favor for the chocolate in his hand. He spun it within the grip of his tiny fingers before giving a testing bite. Once satisfied, the child practically inhaled the piece and followed after Gabriel quickly to where the bench was. Climbing onto the seat next to the older man, he looked up expectantly.

"Here you go, the rest as promised. Also some more food while you're at it," Gabriel said as he handed over the chocolate bar before setting down the sandwich and carrots onto the table in front of him. Once that was settled, he pulled out his tablet and began to look through the various information that they settled in this operation. From looking through each gang member's profile, he was not proven wrong with his earlier assessment. Just grunts thinking they were doing something for the gang, instead they were just bait. Bait for what exactly, he could not even begin to guess since there was nothing else right after. Was it bait for the gang to get away safely? That could be the case. Yet, that doesn't explain the child being there either.

Looking down at him, the child ate the food as if he hasn't touched anything like it for a while. Seeing how skinny he was, Gabriel wouldn't be surprised if that was the truth. With a small frown, he looked back down at his tablet and hovered his finger over Jack's number. He would need to call him anyway to speak on the operation itself, but what about the kid? Each new family was being radioed in as negative and this town was not big at all. The search for the family was beginning to be a dead end the more the day dragged on. Even still, if the family was actually out there, Gabriel wouldn't feel right giving the kid back from just the looks of him alone. The frown upon his features just deepened the more he thought about this.

"Got a name, little man?" Gabriel soon asked and the child just looked up at him with peanut butter and jelly decorating his cheeks. No answer, just eating. The kid would know how to speak, wouldn't he? "My name is Gabriel, you can call me Gabe if you'd like," he offered. Still nothing. Just wide eyes staring at him, only the chewing slowed down a tiny fraction.

An hour hadn't even passed before for the four man team came back. Gabriel did not expect much from their report, but he listened anyway.

"No one could identify the kid. Showed them the picture, even told them he was with the gang, but no one said anything. Didn't even look like they were lying either, sir." Miller was the one who conducted the read through. "They did speak about a man in the gang though. Joel McCree, he was some drunkard who spent his nights with any woman he could pay, pretty high up in the gang though. He could be the father, but he fell off the cliff one night while drunk."

"Well that's something, but I don't want to take it as anything. If that is a lead, I don't want to look for people that would willingly do this to a child. Would rather just suspend the search and get better options," Gabriel sighed. "Alright, pack it up. Lets head on back to the Watchpoint."

"Sir?"

"I'm not leaving the kid here. Think of him as our little VIP for a bit until we get a better place for him to go to. Come on, I'm hungry and I want to finish up this day."

A nod and the team got to work. The doors to the carrier closed and the hum of the engines reared up once more, causing the child to scoot closer to Gabriel to the point where they touched. Gabriel didn't mind. He merely leaned back against the chair while the team got into their respective spots, putting on the restraints with a low murmur of conversation taking up the air once more.

The ride was a quiet one, but it wasn't a long one. The Watchpoint over in Colorado wasn't so far away from New Mexico thankfully enough. Should the kid remain with him though, he might have to do something for the ride over to the Swiss base and, from the looks of it, that was fast becoming more of the definite option than anything else. The kid did not sleep though. He stayed wide awake and alert, looking around at the carrier and even at the team. Some tried to say their hello's to him, get him to talk, but he was solely unresponsive. A look at them and then he would glance away should a new noise grab his attention.

But he always did keep close to Gabriel no matter what. Even as the carrier landed and Gabriel walked off, the kid was right there behind him to the point where the older man needed to learn to be careful when backing up or else the kid would topple over rather ungracefully. He was Gabriel's little shadow now that the team took note of, turning to look as the little pitter patter of feet was sounded. Through the base, checking supplies that were used and unused, even moving deeper in as he was given status reports on other agents in the areas. It was just something to fast get used to that Gabriel now had a small child following him around, even to the point of running to try to keep up with the commander's long strides. Certainly it was something that Gabriel got used to rather quickly and fondly.

"Strike-Commander Morrison wants you to call him, sir," one of his agents noted and Gabriel just waved him off as he headed off to his designated room, his little shadow close behind.

"I will later. Save me a plate of food, alright?"

"Sir."

"Hey, Miller. Find me the smallest clean shirt you can find around here. Should probably get this kid into better clothes."

"Need help with the bath, sir?"

Looking down at his little shadow, he then shrugged. "How hard can cleaning a child be? Nah, just get me that shirt. If you can find anything else, that'd be great."

"Yes, sir."

He opened the door to his room, allowing the child to walk in first before moving over to where the bathroom was situated. His room was the only one with an actual bath, so he had to use this instead of the communal showers that were downstairs and probably already filled to begin with. Thus, he settled here with turning on the water and warming it up before placing in the plug so that the tub could fill up. There were no toys, but he was sure the kid could entertain himself for just a little while, right?

Kneeling down, the kid was pliant when being undressed and brought into the bath. The dirt that practically covered him just started to fill the tub to the point where plugging it up was unneeded right now. The grimy water needed to be drained out and the bath started over.

"What'd you do, roll around in just mud today?" Gabriel chuckled as he tossed the dirty clothes to the side. There was no salvation for the shirt that had more holes than fabric in it, but the pants could be cleaned. At least he hoped they would be good enough. "Not too bad. Dirt is a kid's best friend apparently. Even when I was little, I would come in after digging holes in my backyard. My mama was so mad," he smiled. Even if the kid gave no response, those eyes stayed on Gabriel and that was enough for the man to know he was listening. Thus, he spoke while he cleaned him. "Tracked dirt all through her house. Big mistake on my part because she had white carpet and lemme tell you, cleaning all that up was the hardest thing I've ever done. Now she tells that story with a laugh saying things like 'never have white carpet with kids, always dirty'. Lesson learned for the whole family," he chuckled, tilting the kids head back to wash the soap from his hair.

"You got anything you like to do on your own?" He soon asked as he brought out a washcloth and the body soap. "I remember I used to collect bugs when I was your age. Only lasted for a year though because I got this bug collector for Christmas from one of my aunts, so I'd just go around my neighborhood looking into other people's gardens for bugs. Didn't get much variety. I grew up in the city of Los Angeles over in California, so I worked with what I was given."

Standing up the kid, he began to scrub every last bit of dirt and grime from the kid. "Would ya look at that, you even have freckles underneath all that dirt," he cooed lightly as he scrubbed the kids face who just scrunched his nose up in turn. "You wanna know what my grandma used to call them? Little angel kisses. My younger sister had them and every time she would see her, she'd always say that angels kissed her goodnight every night. Means you're blessed, little man," he said as he gently tapped underneath the child's chin.

In that moment, his phone started to go off where he left it on the floor in order to get everything ready for the kid. He didn't even need to look in order to know who it was. Gabriel just plugged the tub back up and allowed warm, clean water to fill it up once more. The kid just sat still, watching as the water poured forth while Gabriel snatched up his phone and answered. A video of a rather annoyed Strike-Commander Morrison appeared and Gabriel lifted a brow, awaiting the inevitable chew-out.

"You got back two hours ago and still nothing. What happened with Deadlock? The U.N. is breathing down my neck for answers and you aren't giving me shit."

"Well, what do you want to hear first? I got good news and I got bad news," Gabriel answered with some amusement to his tone that really didn't put Jack's mood in any better light.

"Bad news."

"They were only hired grunts. The main members was nowhere to be seen. Also our son made a mess in the bathtub."

Silence. Jack took in the first, but the latter statement had him opening his mouth and then closing it in confusion. "Gabe, we don't have a son."

"Good news," Gabriel flashed the camera on the kid who was busy putting his hand under the running water, squeezing it in his tiny fists, before opening his hand back up again. Turning back the phone to his face now, Jack's eyes were wide and Gabriel's grin grew.

"Gabe, _what the fuck?_ "

"More good news, we also have a prisoner who might give us more information on the other member's whereabouts. From all we know, the gang is running low on supplies and connections after people are starting to hear that Overwatch is hunting them down."

"You took a _child_!?"

"He was _alone_ , Jack. From what I'm getting at, he grew up in the gang and that's all he knows. I doubt they even treated him right because he's not even _talking_. Once I get him clean, I'm going to take him over to the medbay to see if he's healthy--"

"You can't have a child on base, Gabriel. This isn't the best place for him and you know this."

"Obviously, it's just for a little while until I find a good adoption agency to make sure he goes somewhere good and--" soon enough Miller peeked into the room with a shirt in hand.

"Sorry sir, this is about as small as I can find. Just an old shirt of Morgan's since she's the smallest."

"Nah, that's fine. We can just tie it at the bottom and hope for the best," Gabriel replied, ignoring Jack trying to get his attention. Instead, he picked up the pants and handed them off to Miller. "See if you can get that clean. Wouldn't want him walking around without any pants."

She smiled. "Of course, sir." And with that, she left and Gabriel set the shirt on top of the dry towel that was resting on the sink.

" _Gabriel_."

"Jack, I get it," he sighed. "When I get back to base, I'll start looking."

"When will you be leaving?"

"Tomorrow morning. Tell the U.N. the mission was a failure and we need to look in more."

There was no room for goodbyes. Gabriel just hung up and tossed his phone out of the bathroom, hoping it would land on the bed. With a little thump, he huffed. Well it landed on the bed, just jumped off and hit the floor.

"Ready to get out little man?" Gabriel soon asked and the child merely turned away from the water, lifting up his arms slightly as his answer. Thus, he scooped him out and wrapped him up in a big towel before draining the tub that would definitely need to be cleaned after that. "Ever been out of the country? Well, time for an adventure. You are going first class to this little country called Switzerland. It's nothing like it is over where you were born," he started to explain as he shook out the shirt. "Green mountains instead-- _lots_ of green. Snows a lot in the winter, but the summers are pretty nice. Not really a gross heat that you're probably used to." He scrunched up his nose and the child crinkled his eyes as if he wanted to smile, but it never really came.

"It's pretty, you'll like it." Rolling up the shirt, he then pushed it over the child's head and let it fall down, almost hitting the floor. The neck of the shirt sagged off one shoulder and the child just looked like he was drowning in the thing. Gabriel laughed softly. "Doesn't look too bad," he said as he rolled up the bottom just enough that it hit his shins before tying it into a little knot. "Just gotta put some meat on those bones of yours." Rolling up the sleeves as well helped, but it still looked far too big no matter how adorable he was in it. "You'll get pants when they are clean, but you feel good, yeah? Without all the dirt on you?" There was a nod and that's all it took.

"Good good. You and I, little man, we make a great team," Gabriel said as he held out his hand and the child, with some speculation, reached out and gave the lightest of high-fives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a lighthearted little story that won't be too long, but I had to get it out.  
> this is based off of [scuzer's](http://scuzer.tumblr.com/) baby au they thought up. i couldn't sit by without writing it because it's just too perfect. 
> 
> [tumblr](http://elderrmaxson.tumblr.com/)


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